Driver charged in fatal crashes denied bail

A man charged in a 30-minute series of crashes that ended with the death of two women will remain in jail.

Hillsborough County Circuit Judge Walter Heinrich today granted prosecutors' attempts to have Randy Archiquette held without bail.

"I want to make sure the community is protected from you," Heinrich said. "The facts show your total disregard for other human beings."

On Tuesday, Heinrich set Archiquette's bail at $75,000 but revoked it hours later pending today's hearing.

The ruling pleased Joe Lopresto, a tow-truck driver involved in the final crash.

"I'm glad he's staying in and not hurting anyone else," he said.

Archiquette, 39, of 2619 Bramfield Lane, Riverview, faces felony and misdemeanor charges including DUI manslaughter, vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of a crash involving injury or death.

Killed were Betty Williams, 69, and Brittany McFarland, 20, both of Tampa.

Tampa police Detective Rod Glyder testified that Archiquette wouldn't take responsibility for the accidents when interviewed in the hospital.

"He told me, 'This is not my fault,'" Glyder said. "I asked him whose fault it was and he said, 'It was anyone's but mine.'"

Assistant Public Defender Maura Doherty said her client should have bail. She said Archiquette is a 12-year, honorably discharged Army veteran who served in the first Gulf War and in Serbia. She said he has no criminal record.

Doherty suggested Archiquette be ordered to wear a GPS monitor or an alcohol monitor if the judge was concerned he would still drink and drive.

But Heinrich said those devices could be removed.

"No conditions can assure members of the community you won't harm them," he said.

Archiquette watched the hearing on closed-circuit television from Orient Road Jail. He spent most of the hearing with his head bowed, staring toward the floor, though he stood as Heinrich rendered his ruling.

Police say the first 911 call about Archiquette's 2007 Chevrolet Yukon came at 3:31 p.m. Monday, when a witness reported an SUV westbound on Adamo Drive had rear-ended a tractor-trailer near North 28th Street.

Another witness phoned about the same crash, saying the SUV had pulled into a parking lot, turned around and headed east on Adamo.

At 3:35 p.m., police received a 911 call about another crash involving what appeared to be the same vehicle, this time at North 39th Street and Adamo. The SUV had sideswiped a Crown Victoria.

With witnesses supplying the license tag and a description of the SUV, police issued an alert to patrol units and the sheriff's office.

At 3:59 p.m., a driver called 911 after seeing the Yukon rear-end Williams' 1994 Geo, forcing it into a pole, police said. The same caller then saw the Yukon veer into oncoming traffic and strike McFarland's Buick head-on, either forcing the Buick into Lopresto's truck or striking the truck itself.

The Yukon flipped and landed on its roof a block north of Mohawk Avenue. Archiquette suffered minor injuries.

Lopresto said he is still haunted by the sight of McFarland when he went to help.

"I still see the car smashed down and not being able to help that little girl," he said.

McFarland family's has hired lawyer Daniel Fernandez.

"We will not forgive," Fernandez said. "We will do everything possible to bring him to justice."

Tampa lawyer Will Knight was one of the Adamo witnesses. He said the hardest part was taking a call from detectives about the death of Williams and McFarland.

"It was gut-wrenching," Knight said. "If only one of us could have stopped him."